Need to ensure transparency as Pakistan tackles coronavirus with limited resources: Shehbaz

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that Pakistan had to be transparent about its strategies as it was tackling the coronavirus epidemic with very limited resources.

"There is a need to utilise funds with transparency during these difficult times," Sharif urged.

Parliamentary oversight is essential for the transparent use and distribution of funds, the PML-N president said.

Those in power should provide citizens the facts as it is the need of the time, he further said.

He also asked why a parliamentary oversight committee had not yet been formed to oversee the matter.

"Meetings of the National Assembly and Senate standing committees on health should be summoned, while the government should inform members of these committees of the actual facts," Sharif said.

NA speaker calls parliamentary committee meeting 

Separately, NA Speaker Asad Qaiser summoned a parliamentary committee meeting on the coronavirus on April 6 to review the effects of the pandemic on the country.

Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Advisor to PM for Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood will give a briefing to the committee on the effects of the virus on the country's economy and the way forward.

State Minister of Health Dr Zafar Mirza and Chairman National Disaster Management Authority Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal will also brief the committee.

The committee comprises 12 senators and 13 parliamentary leaders.